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Sound disappeared, help!

philj200

Posted 08 March 2008 - 08:13 AM

philj200

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14 posts

Two-year Dell running XP whose teething problems never went away, but ran acceptably until two weeks ago. There have been no changes in the system, no related devices flagged in Device Manager, I get no software errors messages, AVG and Spybot show the computer is clean as a whistle... yet, suddening, the computer is telling me there is no sound device.

I do a lot of audio recording and video editing so this is a major problem.

The sound card is a small rectable built onto the mother board. And in a diffiuclt to reach place. Before I fool with it, can anyone tell me if this it removable and replaceable? Or if not, can I just purchase a new sound card and leave it in place? And since I've already used the two available slots (firewire and serial adaptor for Palm Pilot), is there such a critter as an outboard sound system that can run via a USB port?

Similarly, I don't completely trust the Samsung HD in the system and have a (much bigger) WD unit ready to replace it. Can a freezing HD be related to a missing sound card?

philj200

Posted 08 March 2008 - 03:26 PM

philj200

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14 posts

first...
--First, thanks

here is a link for a usb external sound card...
--That's beautiful. I tried to buy it ( or at least check the price) but all I got was information on other products. I'll look into this further. Might make the problem go away.

only if the sectors on the drive containing info on the sound were hosed..
have you run chkdsk /f/r
if not do so..
--I've run chkdsk /f in the last few days and an error was returned that I traced back to problems with a line of Samsung harddrives. Samsung offered no joy on the problem however. I'm prepared to yank it and tank it. A 500 gig WD SATA HD is at hand.
I've reinstalled XP (twice) and the problems persist.

what kind of freezing do you mean...exactly what does it do...
--Just stops working. Everything stops. Hard drive slows and stops. Monitor holds last image and won't go to screen saver. Whatever the computer was up to is frozen on the scene. A three-finger bail-out does nothing. Only holding down the on/off button will reboot the computer. There is no rhyme, reason or pattern to the freezes that I can detect. Sometime five times in a row, sometime not for three or four days.
Maddening.

Is there a relation to Run DLL as APP torture messages? I've found that running Registry Mechanic helps that... for a while.

happyrock

Posted 08 March 2008 - 07:30 PM

happyrock

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9,285 posts

Is there a relation to Run DLL as APP torture messages

next time you get one of these.... write the exact message down and post it..

Bad computer memory is one of the three main reasons for random system crashing..hanging...BSOD.. the other two are heat (usually caused by fans or heatsinks being blocked with dust) or power issues...first...

if you have a floppy drive you can get the 6th one down ...set the bios to boot from the floppy drive A: first...then the cd drive then the Hard drive C:or you can get the 2nd one down and burn the ISO file to a cd and then boot it from the cd drive...let memtest run for at least 2 hours...if it starts showing any errors during that time then you will have to replace the RAM...no errors after 2 hours just press Esc to end the tests and we will try some other tests

go here and get everest home...install and launch it...click the + by computer...click on sensor...get a screenshot and post it so I can check your temps and voltages...

NOTE...if you have any problems running memtest... Windows Memory Diagnostic may run the tests....you can get it here..

philj200

Posted 10 March 2008 - 07:36 AM

next time you get one of these.... write the exact message down and post it..
Here goes:
EventType : BEX P1 : rundll32.exe P2 : 5.1.2600.2180

P3 : 41107dbc
P4 : setupapi.dll P5 : 5.1.2600.2180 P6 : 411096b0 P7

: 0004644e
P8 : c0000409 P9 : 00000000

Details.
C:\DOCUME~1\PHILIP~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\WER68bc.dir00

\rundll32.exe.mdmp
C:\DOCUME~1\PHILIP~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\WER68bc.dir00

\appcompat.txt

Bad computer memory is one of the three main reasons for random system crashing..hanging...BSOD.. the other two are heat (usually caused by fans or heatsinks being blocked with dust) or power issues...
first...
--On the memory, I swapped out the original memory chips and replaced them with the current and twice the capacity chips. I also checked for and loaded all drive updates including the chipset.

or you can get the 2nd one down and burn the ISO file to a cd and then boot it from the cd drive...let memtest run for at least 2 hours...if it starts showing any errors during that time then you will have to replace the RAM...no errors after 2 hours just press Esc to end the tests and we will try some other tests

go here and get everest home...install and launch it...click the + by computer...click on sensor...get a screenshot and post it so I can check your temps and voltages...

NOTE...if you have any problems running memtest... Windows Memory Diagnostic may run the tests....you can get it here..
--Making ISO discs is oddly very difficult ( or I get hit with the dumb stick every time I try). Can you suggest some ISO freeware that is intuitive.

Further: I took some extreme measures. You see a WD hard drive on the system. I loaded XP on it and took the Samsung harddrive offline. System still did not find the Audio Device. (Rats!)

Attached Files

happyrock

Posted 10 March 2008 - 05:35 PM

happyrock

Tech Moderator

Retired Staff

9,285 posts

go here and get burncdcc ..a small FAST no frills iso burning program...make sure in the bios the cd drive is the first boot device... NOTE do not put a blank cd in until burncdcc opens the tray for you 1. Start BurnCDCC 2. Browse to the ISO file you want to burn on cd/dvd ... MEMTEST 86 3. Select the ISO file 4. Suggestion ==> Check the option "Fix close" 5. Click on "Start"after burning the memtest cd reboot with it in the drive...let it run for at least 2 hours

philj200

Posted 11 March 2008 - 08:30 AM

philj200

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14 posts

Everytime I try to open MEMTEST86+2.0.1.1.iso, it defaults to MAGICISO which I've never was able to get to work. (I must sound like a pinhead). I've downloaded and installed BURNCD and installed it. Dragging and dropping Memtest into it still opens MAGICISO! )grrrrr.

BURNCD asks if I want an update, clicking yes sends me to the AOL (even if AOL isn't running) to get an error message about the kind and size of the file which defaults to Google of all things. I assume I should delete MAGICISO?

I went to INTEL for the driver, upon installation, it told me my computer does not have the resources to run the intall program.

Maddening.

And idea on the Run DLL as App torture?

On top of it all, had a power surge via the phone line that scrammed the memory in my router and modem. Took a two hour conversation with Philippines to set that straight. I must be paying for sins in a past life. What a gipe, I don't remember them.

happyrock

Posted 11 March 2008 - 08:56 AM

happyrock

Tech Moderator

Retired Staff

9,285 posts

when you click on burncdcc a small window will pop up...click on browse...find where the image is..(I save my .ISO files on the desktop)..anyway..once your in the area the image file is in...toward the bottom of the window that opened start typing the name...usually burncdcd will auto complete the file name..DON'T HAVE A BLANK CD IN YET...click on open..check to be sure the right cd burner is in the device box...then click start...the burner drive will open the tray for you...put in a blank cd...click on ok it will burn in just a minute or soput the cd in the cd drive..boot your computer....if this fails remove MAGICISO! using add/remove programs in the control panel

as for the Run DLL as App torture...its a driver issue I'm pretty sure I think so..(thats like a definite maybe)...just not sure of which one and I have payingclients that have to come first...as I get time I will do a little more research..

also go to windows updates...use the custom option ..get everything it says you need...on the left side get any hardware updates as well

philj200

Posted 12 March 2008 - 11:54 AM

philj200

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14 posts

Okay, I ran MEMTEST and it reports (after a few hours) no memory errors. Sort of disappointing in a way. If it found an error, I would know what to address.

I purchased the USB sound unit you mentioned. Waiting for the unit to arrive. Assuming it corrects the sound problem, I'll live with the annoyances of RUN DLL AS APP and lately the system cannot find FRAMEWORKS, a program I never knew I had or used. I went to MS and downloaded it but it won't install. Since I don't do any programming I assume this demi-problem isn't important.

I appreciate whatever counsel you can provide when you have the opportunity.

philj200

Posted 15 March 2008 - 04:11 PM

philj200

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Topic Starter

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14 posts

Still in limbo: I recieved the Audigy 2 NX unit. Needed to download new drivers and apps from manufacturer because the software was for older versions of Windows. Again, things went sideways. The driver update for XP crashed the sysem. So I installed it on a laptop running Vista (with the correct downloads). It worked like a charm. (Grrrrrrrr). Am awaiting advice from Sound Blaster people. And any other bright people who might care to speak up.

All updates from Dell and MS that seem to apply are installed. (I think.)

philj200

Posted 28 March 2008 - 09:02 AM

philj200

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14 posts

I fixed it!
Epic battle is over and I won. But it was not easy.
The advice here helped eliminate areas that were not malfunctioning: memory mostly.

What turned the trick was porting the existing and possibly failing Samsung harddrive over to a new, bigger and faster Western Electric drive which I first installed XP on. I think that was important but don't know why. Maybe just copying the old nstallation would have copied whatever problems where on it?

Still no audio device found. Then...

Ran it for a day with while I tested which software worked, which needed to be re-installed and letting the system get to know itself. Upon booting up this morning a stream of NEW HARDWARE FOUND started parading across the screen. I dutifly found all the components asked for. They it found a missing MSUAA Bus Driver. Fixed that. There messages and similarly error messages didn't appear before. Then something called Nm2KMf.inf was needed. Fixed that. Then it needed Sigmatel STHDA.SYS. Reinstalling this has crashed the system multiple times. But in for penny...

I reinstalled it from the Dell Resoucre disk (got them from after a tip here) and clicked of the first MP3 I could find...
(roll of drums)
IT WORKED!